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Smiles spread on the Japanese storekeepers' faces as Jonathon, an obvious foreigner, asks them a question in their language. Jonathon, a University of Iowa graduate student who is spending a semester abroad, loves this interaction with the locals, both for absorbing the culture and practicing his Japanese language skills.

She came to the United States (U.S.) from Japan to pursue her studies in Neuroscience and African American Studies. It wasn’t until the following spring, however, that she would discover the disability services office, after a car accident caused her to have a traumatic brain injury as well as fractures to her ribs and pelvis. What did this mean for Mayuko?

The main reason I applied to the YES program to the United States was because I wanted to experience a place where people are different, yet not judged by their differences; a place where my abilities would be seen objectively. My parents were really encouraging because they knew my determination and capacity for overcoming difficulties.

While Shmuel Kanner attended a presentation during his professional exchange to the United States, Naama Lerner sat with a computer next to him. She listened to the translation of the presentation from English to Hebrew, and then she simplified what was spoken and typed it on her laptop screen for Shmuel to read. The night before, he also received supplemental materials related to the presentation, so Naama could prepare him for the content being delivered. This was an accommodation for his intellectual disability.

Awake early, Melissa Jensen walked out of the circular yurt into Mongolia’s vast rural lands. “I’m from Wisconsin, so I’m used to cows. But I’m not used to brushing my teeth at an outside sink with primitive plumbing and being surrounded by cows,” says Melissa, who at the time was a college student from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. “That big culture change is what I love.” Melissa was volunteering to help rebuild a destroyed Buddhist temple in Mongolia, just three years after her second head injury near the end of high school.

MIUSA: What was your experience living in the host country?

Tony: This was the first time I traveled on an educational exchange that wasn't disability-related. I wondered whether my learning differences would present a problem in the classes at Yonsei University.

I learn best by seeing and experiencing, and discovered that I was able to comprehend a huge amount at the lectures and on the cultural tours.